Yigal Azrouël

If you're designing womenswear right alongside men's, it's inevitable that—like boys and girls at a fifties sock hop—the two will eventually mingle. That's where Yigal Azrouël's head was at for Fall. "I'm known for dresses," he said before his show, "but I love a woman in a suit. It just looks so fresh."

Azrouël is also known for a certain brand of ease, which he brought to the tailoring. Lines were slim, but not strict. He kept the mix new by employing interesting details (like an embroidered pinstripe, or the sharp leather insets on jackets and pants) and by de-bulking silhouettes with trompe l'oeil layers.

As for the dresses, they were an extension of Azrouël's sleek thinking for Spring. A series of clean, architectural numbers played a coy game of peekaboo, with long sleeves and high necks in front and sexy cutout backs. A peplum sweater dress was an original approach to a sometimes hard-to-wear trend.

Still, as we're seeing elsewhere, it was the separates that stole the show. There was an endless array of chic and covetable pants, often pleated and carrot-shaped, that will no doubt be added to the growing list of staples—leather jackets, knits, accessories (including a new capsule collection of bags)—for which the expanding Azrouël customer base clamors.